CNBC:

The Obama administration has utterly mismanaged the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and it has been “horrible” at crisis management, Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, told CNBC.
“Here’s the difference between a businessman and a politician: Businessmen focus on solutions. Politicians focus on ‘who can we blame?’” he said. “We have to be managers right now, not politicians. No photo ops.”
The administration’s finger-pointing is a petty distraction while the oil continues to gush, according to Welch. “There will be time for a criminal investigation when the oil stops leaking out of the ocean. Until then, every resource should be directed towards solving that problem,” he said.
Since day one of the explosion, Obama has insisted that BP pays for its mess, and Senate Democrats are currently negotiating a $20 billion escrow fund to ensure it does just that.
But Welch said Obama’s request for money may not have even been legal, and that the $20 billion Obama publically requested from BP has probably been agreed in secret with the oil company already, because “I don’t even know if it’s legal.”

And as for Obama’s alternative-energy future:

But Welch thinks that selling the push towards renewable energy as a “jobs package” is “crazy.” The incident may have been a stark reminder of the hazards of oil production, but Welch believes that the world will be using fossil fuels in the near future.

So far, the financial markets seem to like the escrow payment, at least BP’s stock price hasn’t fallen on the news.